Cigarette making machine



March 31, 1953 E. H. HIGGINS 2,633,133

- CIGARETTE MAKING MACHINE Filed Feb. 15, 1950 2 SHEETS--SHEET 1,

. MI "W MI IHM INVENTOR.

BY ggins ATTORN March 31, 1953 E. H. HIGGINS 2,633,133

CIGARETTE MAKING MACHINE Filed Feb. 15, 1950 2 Sl-IEETS-SHEET 2 INVENTOR.

Forl H; Higgins ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 31, 1953 VCIUGARETTEMJV NGMACI-IINEH' EarljH. Higgins, B rocl xton, Masj s'Ja Si nor'of oneto claude'siHamBrockton,Mass.

,,;A 1i 1c ugi; February 15, 1950,.Serial No. .144l,21 8

My present invention relates .to cigarette makfing'machines, and more parti'cularlyll'to a rette making machine for home "use. V r

The principal object of. the present invention is to provide a cigarette making machine .for

homeusewhich has an even and constant ree conjunction withthe accompanying" drawings and more particularly defined in the appendedclaims.

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a cigarette making machine embodying my invention.

1 Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the same. Fig. 3 is a fragmentary side elevation showing the details of the crank and drive construction.

Fig. vl is a section taken on line 4-4 on Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a section taken on line 5-5 on Fig. 4,

" Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the drive shaft and cam assembly. v 1

' Numerous attempts have heretofore been made to provide a cigarette making machine for home use. These machines have all had certain defects which make them undesirable. The type of machine in which the tobacco is rammed into the cigarette paper, either splits the paper or packs the tobacco so solidly that it is difficult to draw on. In the type of machineinwhich the tobacco is fed from a hopper to the cigarette paper with a spiral-worm drive," it has been found that the tobacco will become matted irithehopperand will not feed evenly ,or at all. The resultant cigarette is too loosely packed and the tobacco has a tendency to fall out of it. p

The present invention overcomes all of th above defects by providing'ainachine of the hopper type in which the tobacco separatedand fed to the spiral feedevenlyand constantly. The resultant cigarette is firm and fully packed, but not sofirmly packed as to make it difilcult to draw. This is accomplished by providing a vibrating action in the hoppertending to move the qba .dbrn ar iqwerq -it ssei eed. an

simultaneously providing a action oi. the

tobacco into thefeed.

Referring more in etail to drawings. illu s trating my invention, the cigarette makin'g ma chine l0, shown in Fig.1, maybe mountedon' anyfsuit'able basejl I as by means of the screws'l't. In .use,.'the baseIImay beclamped'to a table with any conventional. clamping" means (not shown) Tor may be .provided" with one or" more. suction cups for fasteningitto the table top "(also not shown) The cigarette making machine I0 can be made of any suitablematerial, either metal or :plastic, the illustratedform being .made of sheet metal. It comprisesa rectangularlhopper I'3' whichtapers slightly downwardly and terminates in a bottom portion I 4 which tapers sharply in'a widey. crosssection as shown in Fig. 5.- The hopper I3 is supported oniangularlydisposed leg plates ltgwhich are screwed to the base II. Ex-' tending-laterally from on'side of the hopper I3 and adjacent one bottom fend'of they-shaped bottom I4 is atubular feed portion I6, Figs. 1 and} 4.; The portion I 6 tapers towards its outer end an'd'isopen at both endsl The outer end is out ofi Tat an angle I "I, andwthe. inner end communicates with the loweriend'of the bottom I4. At the opposite side of the bottom. I4 mounted a short rotatablefshaft I8 axially in alignment with the'axis orthe tube I6. .Theshaft .I8is manually rotatable-by means of a hand crank 'I'flbolted tons outer end'as at 20'.f.I.

A' spiral tempered wire 2 I is positioned the 7 lower. end of thebottom -'I4, withlone end fas tene'd totheinner end of the shaft I 8 and the a other 'end extending almost completely through the tube I6,.as shownin Fig. 4.The,.wire 2I is spiralled. to .form widely'spaced tubes, as shown in Fig. 4, the tubes taperingtoward the outer end, with the large end being-attached to the shaft I 8. It is preferred that the .wirej2I bemadeof tempered stainlesssteelq With the. above constr slide downwardly upon the spiral wire II, and

.rotationof the crank I Stw'ill causethewireto turn and form a worm-drive to push thetobacco outwardly. along the tube, 16.} However. lhave found thatthe tobacco has a tendency to mat and'solidify to such an extent thatthe wire will merely bore a hole in the tobacco and very little tobacco will pass along the tube I6. I have,

therefore, devised asecondary feed and vibrator construction which will prevent the clogging of the drive. As shown in Figs. 2, 4 and 5, 1 pro.-

r r ction, ..if tobacco. is: placedin thefhopper I3, it will normallytend to riveted to one side of the hopper I3. Extending downwardly laterally from the portion 23 are a plurality, four shown, of spring tongues 24 which terminate in tapered, downwardly extending tips 25. The spring tongues are cut away along their side edges, so that they are separated at their upper ends by narrow slots 26 and at their lower ends by wider slots 2'1. The length of the tongues is such that they will extend laterally from the side of the hopper to just beyond the spiral wire 2| and at a slight downward angle as shown in Fig. 5. This leaves a gap beyond the end of the tongues so that the tobacco is directed towards one side of the hopper and will be fed towards the spiral wire 2| in a thin, fiat stream by means of drive shaft 28 rotatably mounted adjacent the base of the hopper 13 in spaced parallel relationship with the spiral wire 2|. As shown in Fig. 6, the shaft 28 is provided with alternate cams 29 and wire feed fingers 30, each at a different angular position on the shaft 28. The cams 29 are so spaced that each cam is positioned beneath the end of the spring tongue 24, as shown in Fig. 4.

Each spring tongue is provided underneath with an L-shaped member 3|, as shown in Fig. 5, which forms an abrupt shoulder. As each 'cam 29 is rotated counterclockwise, the end of the cam rides along the long leg of the member 3i slightly lifting the spring tongue 23. As the cam passes the end of the member 3| forming the abrupt shoulder, it will release the spring tongue 24 further and cause it to snap downwardly with a vibrating action. Since, the cams 29 are in different angular positions, the spring tongues 24 will vibrate alternately. It is preferable, however, that every other spring tongue vibrate almost simultaneously. The secondary wire feed 30 rides inthe slot 27 between the spring tongues 24 and pushes the tobacco from the end of the spring tongues towards the spiral wire drive 21. These feeds 3!] also tend to break up any lumping of the tobacco. The slots 21 are of such width that the feed fingers 30 just clear the sides of the spring tongues 24. This prevents the tobacco from clinging to the feed fingers or from winding around the shaft 28.

The shaft 28 is driven by "a gear or sprocket 3| fastened to its outer end above the handle 19. The handle i9 is provided with a plate '32 having two inwardly extending pins 33 at diagonally opposite points on its circumference. These pins are positioned so that they will engage one tooth of the gear 3| in passing, while the handle 19 is being turned. The ratio is such that each turn of the handle 19 moves the gear 3| a distance of two teeth and approximately eight revolutions of the handle l9 will provide a single revolution of the shaft 28.

With the above construction, a package of tobacco may be completely emptied into the hopper l3 and the bulk of the tobacco will rest on the spring tongues 24. A cigarette paper in tubular form is slipped over the end of the "tube l6 as far as it will go without tearing. Turning -movemerit of the 'crank handle I9 'will cause avibrating action of the spring tongues 24 as hereinabove described and tend to slide the tobacco end of thecigarette paper shown in dotted lines in Fig. 4. As this portion of the cigarette becomes packed with tobacco, the constant feed of more tobacco will tend to push the cigarette paper off the tube l6. This pushing pressure has been found sufficient to insure just the right packing of the tobacco, and the cranking action of the handle it is stopped when the cigarette paper is completely full and completely off the tube Hi.

It can thus be readily seen that I have provided a cigarette making machine with a main feed and a secondary vibrating feed which insures the proper amount f tobacco being fed at all times to the cigarette paper. The device is simple in construction and easy and economical to manufacture and assemble. Its operation is very simple.

While I have described a specific embodiment of my invention, it is obvious that changes may readily be made in the size, shape and relative arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims I claim:

l. A cigarette machine comprising a hopper, a tube extending laterally from the bottom of said hopper, means adjacent the bottom of said hopper for feeding tobacco from said hopper through said tube, a plurality of spring tongues extending from one side of said hopper and spaced from said feeding means, a rotatable shaft in said hopper beneath said tongues, spaced fingers on said shaft for pushing the tobacco downwardly during the rotation of said shaft, and a cam on said shaft under each tongue for vibrating said tongues during the operation of said feeding means, said feeding means comprising a rotatable spiral wire extending from the bottom of said hopper through ,said tube, the diameter of said spiral tapering towards the free end in said tube.

2. A cigarette machine comprising a hopper, a tube extending laterally from the bottom of said hopper, means adjacent the bottom of said hopper for feeding tobacco fromsaid hopper through said tube, a plurality of spring tongues extending from one sideof said hopper andspaced fromsaid feeding means, a rotatable shaft in said hopper beneath said tongues, spaced fingers on said shaft for pushing the tobacco downwardly during the rotation of said shaft, and a cam on said shaft,

under each tongu for vibrating said tongues during the operation of said feeding means, .Said shaft being geared to rotate on operation of said feeding means, said feeding means comprising a rotatable spiral wire-extending from the bottom of said hopper through said tube, the diameterof said spiral tapering towards the freeend in said tube.

EARL 1H. HIGGINS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record .in the file of this patent:

UNITED i STATES IPA'I'ENTS Number Name Date 1,487,018 Lindsey s Mar. 18,1924

FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 76,980 Germany Aug. 29, 1894 84,098 Austria May 25, 1921 235,456 "Germany June 12, 1911 360,916 Germany 'Mar. 15, 1923 506,806 Germany -'Sept.-9, 1930 625,633 Great Britain June 30, 1949 

